Sucking Feijoas, by Jeff Buchanan

“With humour and tenderness, this richly rewarding novel charts half a century in the lives of three gay men in New Zealand – and the suffering that comes from leading a double life.”

That, anyway, is the blurb, and the reality is just that – but little more. Characterisation is static and, while one sympathises with the plight of the men concerned, one eventually says: “So what? There are a million like them.” I found myself glad when one of the protagonists was thrown into jail – because I thought it might make his life a bit more interesting.

In other words, this offering from GMP fails to engage, “classic” though it is said to be.

And I was left wondering why the author had adopted such bizarre – not to say incorrect – use of semicolons, plus, with no perceptible effect, the overuse of non-sentences. All right in their place. Not, though, a device to be abused.